Garden treasure

I got home a few days early from Alaska and have taken the past couple of days to do house and garden projects that I haven't had time to complete in the past four years. If that sounds like a long time, I gently ask you to have two children, a stressful career and only 8 months a year in this house to get stuff done. Enough said. 

We had the nanny lined up and I had the time scheduled away from the office so carpe diem, which is Nick and my favorite phrase these days and gets stated at least three times a day from one or the both of us. My project include getting the house ready for painting, which in our case, means cutting 30 years of shrubbery and other living, twisting, vining things away from the house so we can actually get access to the exterior walls. We live on a tiny lot, and yet you can hardly see the house from the road even though you could reach your arm out and touch it, such is the magnitude of our natural surroundings. 

So, two compost dump trips later, and the house can be accessed to paint and along the way, I found a treasure. I love finding treasures and was really hoping I was going to find something cool in all the biomaterial, especially since it was a long hard day toiling in the bushes by myself. 

The treasure I found was a bison carved out of hardwood, hidden beneath years and years of leaves among the recently-cut bamboo. He is missing his back hooves, but other than that is a stately and beautiful piece of art, probably 16 inches tall and by the looks of it, rather old. 

What a reward!